There was an intriguing acquisition announced at CinemaCon today from faith-based Sound of Freedom distributor Angel Studios. They have acquired the TIFF standout, Sketch, starring Tony Hale and D’arcy Carden. Without wasting any time, they’ve also confirmed an August 6th release date, placing the film in the midst of summer blockbuster season.
Sketch is written and directed by Seth Worley, and perhaps Angel Studios was attracted to the family-friendly quality in the story of a widowed father trying to help his two kids move past the death of their mother. However, the movie is also a horror, as one of the kids’ dark drawings comes to life and terrorizes the neighborhood.
Others in the cast include Bianca Belle and Kue Lawrence as Hale’s children. Carden plays Hale’s sister, a real estate agent trying to help him sell the family home.
“Seven years in the making, I’ve made a movie that is 100% me, and I still can’t figure out how to describe it to people. Ask me the genre, and I’ll vamp for a bit, mutter something about Spielbergian horror comedy (not a genre), and then run away. Ask me who this movie is for, and I’ll probably say, “everyone.” And then run away again”, Worley said as part of a press statement.
He continued, “Executives, producers, and financiers would read this movie and either interpret it as “The Babadook if it were inappropriately funny and warm” or “Goosebumps if it were too good and weirdly dark.” But to me, it’s Inside Out meets Jurassic Park. It challenges stigmas surrounding grief and explores childhood emotions, the darker places they can go, and how we live our lives in the wake of trauma.”
“This movie is my childhood. This movie is my kids. If I only get to make one movie in my life, this is the one. It’s weird, it’s thrilling, it’s funny, it’s deeply emotional, and hopefully, I’ve put enough of myself into it for you to find yourself in it, too.”
